Fun and Safe Activities For Your Teens This Halloween

Get your teens into the Halloween spirit with these entertaining and age-appropriate activities! From haunted houses to costume contests, there’s something for everyone. Make this Halloween unforgettable. Don’t miss out on any spine-tingling fun with these Halloween activities for high school students. 

Fun Halloween Activities For Your Teens

Here Halloween isn’t a day, but a whole month of spooky celebrations! Everyone in our family loves getting into the spirit with ghostly decorations, pumpkins, and plenty of sweet treats. But as my eldest kids enter their high school year, I realize that they are outgrowing traditional dressing up and trick-or-treating. So, I have to find fun and age-appropriate activities for them to continue enjoying the Halloween season. If you are in a similar situation or just looking for new ideas, here are some Halloween activities that high school students will love. 

Visit a Haunted House or Trail

No matter how old you get, visiting a haunted house always has its thrill and excitement. Look up local haunted houses in your area. Some of them might even offer special tours and events specifically for high school students.

If you can’t find a haunted house tour to go on, create your own. Decorating your house with spooky props and inviting friends over for a tour can be a fun and creative way to celebrate the season. You can even add some challenges or games for added fun.

Put their bravery to the test with an outing to a haunted house or trail. Here in San Diego, we have quite a few of these, including a haunted walk through Balboa Park! But chances are there’s a haunted house or Scream Zone near you to get your older kids positively spooked. Definitely meant for the teens as these can be pretty scary, but I love the outdoor ones because they’re COVID/ flu season friendly and it’s a fun way to spend time together. Whoever didn’t do the dishes has to lead the way!

For some kids, they want to have the great time and thrill of a haunted house, but the jump scares are just a bit too much, even for big kids. An escape room can be a great way to bring some of the same feelings in without the “in your face” jump scares. There are a lot of rooms that are perfect for small groups that even have a Halloween theme. 

Pumpkin Carving

Another classic Halloween activity that high schoolers can enjoy is pumpkin carving. This creative and hands-on activity allows for self-expression and friendly competition among friends. Start by picking out the perfect pumpkins at a local farmer’s market or grocery store. Encourage your teens to let their creativity flow as they carve intricate designs or silly faces on their pumpkins.

To up the ante, you could also create a pumpkin carving contest with different categories such as scariest, funniest, and most creative pumpkins. Provide small prizes for the winners to make it even more exciting. You could also incorporate some spooky background music and have everyone vote on their favorite carved pumpkin.

Costume Contest

Halloween wouldn’t be complete without costumes, so why not turn it into a fun competition? Encourage your high schoolers to come up with creative and unique costume ideas. They could also have a group theme if they are attending the same Halloween party or event.

Have everyone walk down a makeshift runway in their costumes and have each person vote for their favorite. You could also have a panel of judges or even use an online poll to determine the winner. This will allow for friendly competition and creativity among your high schoolers. Don’t forget to provide small prizes for the winners as well!

Host a Movie Night

Nothing will put your teens in a better mood than a hangout with their friends. But this is something you can do together! Help them host a Halloween movie night. Start by helping your teens transform your living room into a cozy, Halloween-inspired haven. This can be achieved by piling up soft pillows and warm blankets, creating the perfect spot for a movie marathon.

To elevate the Halloween vibe, add some spooky decor. Think paper pumpkin lanterns that cast eerie shadows, creepy bats hanging from the ceiling, and artificial spider webs spun around the room. This will surely set the right mood and get everyone into the spirit of the season.

Next comes the highlight of the night – the movies. Work together with your teens to curate a list of Halloween favorites. Classics like ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ are always a hit, but don’t shy away from including a mix of horror and comedy to keep the night interesting. A scary movie followed by something funny can keep things from being too intense. 

Of course, no movie night is complete without treats. Make it a fun activity to prepare some festive snacks together. You could opt for popcorn dyed orange to fit the Halloween theme, candy corn, or even homemade pumpkin cookies. These little details will make the night even more special and enjoyable for your high schoolers and their friends. At the end of the night, not only would they have had a blast, but also created lasting Halloween memories.

Plan a Halloween Game Night

Halloween has its own set of really fun games. Have a Halloween game night to get the kids together to celebrate the spooky season. Not only will it be a great bonding experience, but it also gives them a chance to showcase their competitive side and creativity. Here are some ideas for Halloween activities that high school age kids can enjoy during a game night.

List of Halloween games

• Halloween-themed Pictionary: Divide into teams and have them draw spooky-themed words or phrases for their teammates to guess.
• Pumpkin Seed Spitting Contest: See who can spit a pumpkin seed the farthest. 
• Bobbing for Apples: This classic Halloween game has everyone trying to retrieve apples from a tub of water using only their mouths. 
• Ghost Bowling: Set up ghost-shaped bowling pins and use a pumpkin as the bowling ball.
• Mummy Wrap: Divide everyone into pairs and have them race to wrap each other in toilet paper. The first person wrapped is the “mummy”.
• Halloween Movie Trivia: Create a quiz with questions related to popular Halloween movies and see who can answer the most correctly. 
• Halloween Costume Contest: Encourage everyone to come in their best Halloween costumes and have a contest with categories such as funniest, scariest, and most creative. 

Halloween Bakeoff

If you have any aspiring chefs or dessert enthusiasts in your family, a Halloween Bakeoff could be the perfect activity to showcase their culinary prowess. This event involves three thrilling rounds, each with a unique theme that requires participants to put a Halloween twist sweet treats and baked goods.

The first round could be “Spooky Cookies,” where bakers have to craft chillingly creative cookie designs. Round two, “Monster Cupcakes,” would challenge bakers to transform ordinary cupcakes into monstrous masterpieces. The final round might be “Petrifying Pies,” demanding bakers create a pie that incorporates traditional autumnal flavors in a horrifyingly delicious way.

After each round, invite a panel of judges to assess the entries based on appearance, relevance to the theme, and of course, taste. The baker with the highest overall score from all three rounds would be declared the winner and rewarded with a jackpot of candy!

For those who might not be comfortable baking from scratch, consider hosting a parallel competition. Buy plain cookies or cupcakes from a store and let the participants unleash their creativity with spooky decorations. This guarantees that nobody is left out and everyone can enjoy the fun of Halloween baking.

Check out all my spooky ideas on the City Girl Gone Mom Pinterest board!

Scavenger Hunt for your kids

Challenge the kids to a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt around the school or at a nearby park. You could start by creating a list of spooky season items for them to find. This list could include a variety of items such as “black cats”, “a pumpkin with a face carved on it”, “a skeleton”, “a witch’s hat”, “a spooky mask” or even “a piece of candy corn”. 

But don’t stop at just finding items. To make things more challenging and interactive, include tasks for them to complete at each item spot. For instance, if they find a black cat, they must meow like a cat. If they spot a pumpkin carving station, they should do an impression of a witch. At the sight of a spooky mask, they could enact a short horror skit. And if they stumble upon a piece of candy corn, they could tell a short ghost story.

These tasks will certainly add a fun twist to the scavenger hunt, making it more than just looking for items and more of a fun game. This activity encourages teamwork and creativity, as everyone will have to work together to locate items and complete tasks. It also keeps everyone active and engaged in the Halloween spirit, as they traipse around school or the park, partaking in Halloween fun. Plus, it offers an excellent opportunity to bond and create memorable Halloween experiences.

Storytelling Session

Gather your kids around a campfire, or simply a cozy indoor setting, and engage in an eerie storytelling session! Ask each one to come up with their own spine-tingling short story or share their favorite ghost stories. You could even set a theme such as “Urban Legends”, “Haunted Houses” or even someone like “Edgar Allan Poe” to get the creative juices flowing.

To make the scary stories more authentic, dim the lights and use props like fake spiders or cobwebs to set the mood. Encourage everyone to use descriptive language and sound effects to make their short stories even more terrifying. 

Tarot Card Reading

Something that’s not quintessentially Halloween but leans into the witchy, spiritual side of the season are tarot cards! Set up a room with a crystal ball and twinkly lights, and let the cards guide you to what’s to come in the future. Tarot cards can be a lot of fun and super helpful in offering general advice and perspective on things going on in your life. Plus, there are so many beautiful cards you can find online so your teens will find one they like!

What do you do with your teens for Halloween? I’d love to know! And if you do try any of these ideas, leave a comment and let me know how it went. Halloween is truly one of our favorite times of the year—go all out!

Have you listened to my podcast? Check out The Mom Confidential!